1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic conference support system capable of improving efficiency in performing the conference.
2. Description of Related Art
A conference, in which communication of attendants is mainly made by means of voice, has recently been developed into an electronic conference support system in which information items, which are opinions of the attendants of the conference, are electronically created, displayed, instructed and moved so as to smoothly make communication among the attendants and easily reserve the record of the conference, thereby improving the contents and results of the conference.
A conference support system of the foregoing type generally has a structure, in which one common information processing apparatus and some personal information processing apparatuses, each of which is assigned to each attendant, are connected by serial synchronizing communication lines such as LAN lines or the like. The common information processing apparatus has a large-size monitor employed in place of the blackboard and arranged to display information from each attendant in a large scale, a monitor control unit for controlling the monitor to display a variety of information items, and input means provided for commonly all of the attendants to input information. Each personal information processing apparatus has a personal computer, a small-size monitor for displaying various information and input means peculiar to the attendant for inputting information. In order to support the conference, which is a kind of cooperation work, common or peculiar input means is used to permit each attendant to arbitrarily create, instruct and move information.
In a case where a certain attendant A expresses his own information on the common information display surface of the large monitor of a conventional conference support system, he, for one thing, directly expresses it on the common information display surface, using the common input means, or, for another, he prepares it on his personal small-size monitor, using its peculiar input means and transmits it to the common information display surface. When the attendant A creates new information, instructs existing information, or moves information, other attendants can look at the same information on all display units of the other information processing apparatus as that of A's display unit.
Since input and display of information are controlled as described in the conventional conference support system, there arises the following problem when attendants try to communicate with each other through displayed information in the conference: in a case where information is directly created on the common information display surface of the common information processing apparatus, the attendant A intending to create information must perform the creating process while considering the arrangement of new information among existing information groups. Therefore, an idea created newly during the communication in the conference cannot immediately be presented as information. In another case where information is displayed on the common information display surface after it has been created by the personal processing apparatus, the attendant A solely forms the idea into information and then presents the information above. Therefore, the new idea cannot immediately be presented as information to the other attendants.
There is a case that the attendant A expresses his own information on a display of any information processing apparatus and the other attendant B looks at it on any different display. Strictly, one case is that the attendant A performs an operation with his own personal information processing apparatus and the attendant B looks at it on the display unit of the common information processing apparatus or of his own personal information processing apparatus, and the other case is that the attendant A performs an operation with the common information processing apparatus and the attendant B looks at it on the display unit of his own personal information processing apparatus. The process of the operation which is performed by the attendant A cannot sufficiently be communicated on the common information display surface which is being looked at by the attendant B such that information suddenly appears or the same rapidly moves. Therefore, the attendant B is adversely affected by a stimulus so that smooth communication using information is usually inhibited.
As a system for electronically supporting a conference, a system has been suggested in which an attendant who has inputted information which is being displayed on the common information display surface can be identified (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-300147 (1993)). However, since input information is not controlled for each person (each attendant) who has inputted the same, information inputted by a certain attendant can easily and unintentionally be moved or deleted, that is, edited by the other attendants.